Chapter 8
Chapter 8
I have avoided all the event flags, right? (She did not)
When she awakened to her skill as it was in the game, Francesca talked with her father. To which he immediately responded with an expressionless face.
[“No matter what happens, keep them hidden………..my adorable girl is already getting targeted by kidnappers every other day, if they find out about your skill, the entire world will be after your life…….”]
[“P-papa, ……..thank you. But you’re worrying a bit too much I think………!”]
But she was glad she took up on his offer.
Leonardo has his own responsibilities as the young head of the Aldini family.
To marry a woman who has no skills, even if she is a noble girl, would be considered as bad as a noble marrying a commoner.
(I will not fall for any of Leonardo’s schemes. I shouldn’t have much value even as the Calvino family’s only daughter as well now. No matter how much of a weirdo he might be, there’s no way he’ll be interested in marrying me anymore!)
Francesca made a triumphant expression, and declared to Leonardo.
“And thus, this is farewell! Don’t worry, I’ll hide the fact that there was a kidnapping [attempt] from Papa as well so——-bye bye!”
Francesca left the room, and the quickly ran through the corridor.
“………..Ah she really is adorable. My Francesca.”
Left alone in the room, Leonardo muttered to himself while smiling, but of course, there was no one here to see or hear him.
Getting outside of the house, she saw the horse, on which Leonardo had carried her here, still tied nearby.
Part of her wanted to ‘borrow’ the horse since as payback for forcefully being brought all the way here, but she really wanted to avoid doing anything that might give Leonardo an excuse to come looking for her again.
(guess I have no choice. I’ll walk back.)
It was in preparation for such unexpected situations that she had chosen to wear boots with no heels today. While walking on the stone paved road, Francesca began to think of her plans from here onwards.
(………..The scenario of [Francesca’s kidnapping] was part of the prologue which also served as the tutorial for the game and its controls.)
Normally, Leonardo wouldn’t even show up at this point in the story.
The people who kidnapped Francesca in the game were Leonardo’s subordinates disguised as thugs and outlaws. After getting taken to the port warehouse, she would get put in a difficult situation there.
But in the end, she would be able to return without any injuries.
Because according to the scenario, one of the many male characters would show up to save Francesca.
(At this point, the player would chose from the 4 houses. Since this is still part of the tutorial, you get to spin the cylinder 10 times for free, and draw playable members from the chosen family there………if I recall, you are guaranteed a rarity level 4 card for this roll right?)
By tapping the screen, the animation of the gun’s cylinder being spun would play, and the cylinder could hold 10 shots in it. And when the shots are fired, you get to see what all characters you got from your roll as their intro animation plays.
If a rarity 4 character shows up, you can see a silver bullet, and if a rarity 5 shows up, it gets a golden bullet to signify it.
Since there are certain events where you can get high rarity cards even without paying the gacha, there were also a lot of people that would uninstall and reinstall the app to reroll to get the exact characters they wanted to start with.
(The cards you get here on your first roll are then used to explain to you the game’s mechanics and systems during the tutorial……..basically making the characters you draw, the men that come to save Francesca in your story.)
Reliving her memories, Francesca tightly gripped both of her hands. She stopped, and then held her arms aloft while trembling from happiness.
“……….I DID IT…….!!”
Even though she was alone, she ended up shouting out loud.
“Normally, you’d be forced in to the this event where you get saved by the men of other families! But I have succeeded in avoiding both meeting anyone, or making contact with any of them~~~~!!!”
She suppressed her urge to jump up in joy, and continued to tremble with happiness.
She did end up meeting Leonardo but, she had given him so many reason to explain why they should break their engagement off so it shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
(Not just that! According to the main scenario, the class Francesca would get transferred to in the academy would be the same as whatever family you choose during the tutorial. But! I did not! Choose anyone!!)
Of course, a menu screen for [Choose your family!] was never going to show up in real life but, she had no idea how this world would have made it work in reality.
But it didn’t matter now that she had completely avoided the entire event and not made a choice, she’ll probably just get put randomly in one of the 4 classes, she didn’t care which.
(I would have been satisfied with just confirming that the kidnapping event takes place in reality as well but, this went much better than I had hoped……….I should give you my thanks for kidnapping me yourself, Leonardo……….)
Ironically showing gratitude to the guy who kidnapped her, Francesca wiped the corner of her eyes. She was truly glad that all her hard work for the past 12 years was finally bearing fruit.
(——–At the academy, I’ll use my deceased mother’s surname instead as well. If I can hide the fact that I am the daughter of the Calvino household, I should be able to avoid the other heirs of the big families and not catch their attention as well……..!)
While thinking so, suddenly a singular thought flashed past her mind.
(I suddenly had an ill premonition but, no, it should all be fine. [Leonardo is too busy as the current head of the family, and doesn’t attend the academy] is the setting of the game. Even in the main story, there was an episode where you could search the entire school and still fail to meet him directly, so it should be fine…………right?)
Although she reassured herself, the next day came with a twist.
***
“…………….”
The first day of school, Francesca who had introduced herself as [the daughter of an ordinary count] looked behind her seat to the back of her classroom.
There sat the handsome man she had met just yesterday. While gazing directly at Francesca, he gave a light wave of his hand.
And spoke, with just the movement of his lips.
[Good morning. My dear fiancée.]
(………………WHY?………..)
She suppressed her desire to shout out in protest, and simply shut her eyes tightly.
(Why is Leonardo here when he has special exemption to not come to class? And why was I put in his class in the first place——–…?!?)
And thus the curtains opened on Francesca’s academy life.
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